


Yellow

by LazyBaker



Category: Basic Instinct (Movies), Mænd & høns | Men & Chicken (2015)
Genre: Established Relationship, Gender Issues, Genderfluid, M/M, Moving In Together, hannigram AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 20:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11020884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyBaker/pseuds/LazyBaker
Summary: Adam finds a yellow skirt in the very back of the closet.





	Yellow

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this a while ago but deleted it (it was part of a collection I wasn't too happy with). I liked it a lot though, so I've edited it and added a bit more.

There were too many books and too few boxes, the ratio was wildly off and Adam could only blame Elias. Adam had bought every large cardboard box he could get his hands on for the Big Move. At the time he had thought he was being overly cautious, which apparently was not cautious enough when it came to Elias and his deceptively tiny flat which wasn’t even half the size of Adam’s.

Yet in this tiny flat Elias had managed to pack every room full with books. It was a genuine wonder and a bit worrying that the floor hadn’t caved in under the weight of it all. Adam made sure to step lightly on the creakier of the floorboards.

In Elias’ room, small with a single twin bed that squeaked, Adam randomly picked another book from one of the endless stacks and flipped through it. It was in German and every page was filled with handwritten notes in a combination of German and Danish and English, some paragraphs had even been scribbled out. Elias was not one to read passively. All that energy had to come out somewhere.

Adam made a mental note to let Elias know his own books were off limits to any sort of manic scribbling and note taking. Pen or pencil. 

 _No highlighting either_ , Adam thought as he found an entire two pages highlighted in neon pink, the paper wrinkled from all that ink.

Elias was in the kitchen packing up the pots and pans and whatever he had stored in his small pantry that he wanted to keep. Most likely wheels of the family cheese and more books, always more books. Adam couldn’t take a step in any direction without bumping into another curiously well balanced tower of books. 

While Elias was making headway in packing away what would most likely not be kitchen appliances and utensils, Adam bounced between rooms, never settling for too long. His own curiosity getting the better of him now that he had free range to do what he wanted over the entire flat and of Elias’ personal belongings. Packing was secondary to Adam opening every drawer and cabinet to uncover more about his soon to be live-in boyfriend and his life

The books hadn’t been a surprise. The quantity though, _that_ had become one of those daunting things he ruminated on for weeks as he tried to figure out how to combine both of their lives into one habitable habitat without Elias breaking into tears and without Adam tossing everything out in, admittedly, a fit.

Between Adam’s perfectly understandable nosiness and natural curiosity and Elias’ own wandering attention, packing for the Big Move had been going a bit slower than what Adam had scheduled for. One day of planned packing had turned into five and there was no end in sight.

Adam had offered to pay for movers, but Elias had gotten red in the face adamant he would do it himself. Disliking the idea of strangers trampling around his home and touching his things with their stranger hands. Now that Adam was the committed boyfriend, a title he had never worn in his life before Elias, and unwilling to let this opportunity to snoop pass, he had quickly volunteered to help.

— 

They were going to need a dolly. Adam was quite proud of himself that he knew that.

He doubted with even Elias’ surprising strength they would have enough endurance to carry so many hefty boxes down three flights of stairs or, if the elevator was working at all this week, down the lengthy hall. 

The entire process was tedious and irritating and had the looming air of doom about it, but it was also fascinating to pry Elias’ life and see it all bared before him. Beyond all of that though was the fact, the certainty, that soon there would no longer be an _Adam’s flat_ or an _Elias’ flat_. It would just be _their flat_.

Their home.

He still had trouble getting his mind around it. Elias for his part was as excited as a puppy being taken home from the shelter.

Adam wiped his dusty hands off on his pants, old jeans he had found in the bottom drawer of his dresser from a time he couldn’t remember and could possibly have belonged to an ex. Without more cardboard boxes to unfold and fill up, he moved on to the next curious and untouched spot on his list of spots to comb through and inspect and dig his nose into.

Elias’ closet was as tiny as a closet was allowed to be and still be considered a ‘closet’. Much like the rest of the flat it was stuffed to the brim and the pole extending the width of the closet was sloping downwards into a dangerous arch under the weight of the clothes.

 _Wire hangers_. Adam cringed. He would throw every single one of those hangers out. None of them would make it into their flat.

Adam grabbed two handfuls of clothes and set them on the bed to be looked at and sorted appropriately. Elias would argue with him, but Adam was determined to weed out a few of the more offensively dated garments. The bed became completely covered in clothes as he pulled everything out.

On the floor of the closet, having likely slipped from a hanger at some point in the many decades Elias had been living here, was a crumpled yellow something.

Adam shook it out, dust came off of it in a big cloudy puff that made Adam sneeze twice.

He untwisted it and turned it this way and that and became more confused. It was a yellow knitted skirt. A larger size, the label had been torn off, but the waist was telling. 

It was worn down and had been washed and cared for many times before it fell into the abyss of the closet floor.

Adam paused his cleaning and went to the kitchen with the skirt in hand. It was a small kitchen that lived in the 80s with only the very basics, close to being a kitchenette. Adam’s own kitchen was top notch but sparse when it came to actual cooking utensils because Adam rarely ever cooked himself. Few things had been packed away into the cardboard box labeled ‘kitchen’ besides a toaster and a few recipe books he was sure were filled with corrected recipes. 

Elias was sitting crossed legged on the floor, his shorts riding up his thighs. He had a book open in his lap and one hand in a box of cereal. 

He froze as Adam came in, one hand half way to his mouth and full of cereal.

“How’s the packing going?” Adam said, leaning against the counter. The skirt was balled up in his fist, not quite hiding it but not giving away his discovery just yet.

Elias swallowed his food. “I’m almost done.”

“Taking a break?”

“I got a little hungry.”

“You should have told me you were having lunch. Scoot over.” Adam sat across from Elias, his feet bumping Elias’ elbow and his back to the cabinets. One of the knobs dug into his shoulder.

Elias offered him the box of cereal, apple cinnamon Cheerios were one of Elias’ favorites and was quickly on its way to becoming one of Adam’s favorites as well, and Adam took a hardy handful, popping a few into his mouth.

He spread the skirt out across his lap, keeping an eye on the way Elias stiffened, face going beet red. Adam said nothing. He got another handful of the cereal and picked at it, eating them one by one, letting the moment stretch itself out.

“Where did you find that?” Elias said quietly. He was staring, wide eyed as if he had been caught doing something horrible. 

“The back of your closet.”

“Give me that.”

Adam bent his knees, keeping it away from Elias for now. “I thought you said you’d never been with a woman? Or anyone?”

“I haven’t. You know I haven’t.”

“Then why do you have a woman’s skirt stuffed in your closet?”

Elias closed his book with a sharp snap and for a moment Adam thought he would get up and storm out. Instead Elias snatched the skirt from Adam’s lap and clutched it to his chest, holding it with trembling hands. 

“You shouldn’t pry into people’s personal business.”

“We’re moving in together. We are each other’s personal business.”

“Well. Still. It’s rude.” Elias said. He held the skirt up to his nose, muffling his mouth. He was hiding behind it. “And it’s not a woman’s skirt, it’s—it’s just a skirt.”

Adam cocked his brow. He ate the rest of the cereal in one too-much mouthful and clapped his hands together to get rid of the crumbs, giving himself a moment to think and adjust his thinking. 

Elias had his head bowed, face and ears a beacon of bright raspberry embarrassment causing his greying blond hair to stand out starkly. 

Adam pushed himself onto his knees and hands and shuffled forward, ducking his head to catch Elias’ eyes. He bumped his nose against Elias’. “It’s okay, Elias. Really. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”

But Elias didn’t seem to want to hear him or believe him. He clenched his eyes shut and shook his head rapidly in denial.

“You’re judging me.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. Anyone would. It’s the only reaction that makes sense.” Elias said. He buried his face in the skirt and Adam could not have that. He pulled softly at the wool first and then more firmly until Elias put the skirt down in a huff, finally looking at Adam with a bit of a glare and watery eyes.

Adam sat back on his heels and put one hand on Elias’ knee. “It’s a very pretty yellow. I bet you looked gorgeous in it. Probably still would.”

Elias shook his head again and fixed his eyes on the skirt, rubbing the yellow between his fingers. 

“It’s silly. I know it is. I just.” He shrugged.

“You’re not silly.”

He took a shaky breath and Adam was sure he would start crying. Little tears pricking his eyes, welling up as they often did. But he didn’t. He stared and stared at the skirt in his hands, going quiet. Lost to some memory Adam was desperate to see. 

Adam squeezed his knee and then slid his hand up and down Elias’ leg trying to comfort him and after a little bit it seemed to bring him back.

“Gabriel caught me once.” Elias said. He rubbed at his nose. He said in his best Gabriel voice, which was more nasally and high pitched than Gabriel actually sounded like, “he told me to ‘ _put some pants on, christ’_.”

“Gabriel is an ass.”

“No he’s not.”

Adam smiled. Elias was loyal to a fault. A quality Adam admired most of the time.

“He can be an ass, is that better?”

Elias nodded and sighed and looked up at Adam shyly. “I’m not normal. I don’t know what I am, actually. Not normal though.”

Adam weighed his words carefully, knowing his mouth was often faster than the moment preferred. “You’re very Elias and I like that you’re Elias.”

Elias sniffled, lips trembling between smiling and crying. Adam covered his hands with his own. 

“I thought I lost it. I looked for it for a very long time.”

“It was buried under a lot of clothes. I don’t think you would have had the chance to find it before now.”

Elias held the skirt up. He examined the hem and then where the label would have been, fingering at the wool with a soft look.

Adam was struck with the image of a younger Elias. A bit slimmer. Less grey. His curls longer. In his room, in front of the mirror of his closet, twisting his hips, twirling and watching his skirt woosh prettily over his bare knees, catching glimpses of his thighs. Putting it on every day in the secrecy of his room and how happy he must have been.

Adam’s chest tightened. He curled in closer until he could wrap Elias in his arms, pushing his face into the crook of his neck.

“How did you know? Was it just the—the skirt?” Elias said. He bit and worried at his lip.

“I honestly had no idea.”

Elias was relieved and Adam hated that he had any reason to feel worried. 

Elias set the skirt down delicately on his lap, seemingly reluctant to stop touching it now that he had it back. Adam stayed quiet for a few moments, playing with Elias’ curls and letting him have this time to reacquaint himself with the possibilities. 

“Will you wear it?” Adam said.

Elias’ spun to look at him, confused. The angle was awkward and they both went slightly crosseyed so close together. 

“It’s too small now.”

“We’ll go shopping then and buy you a new one.” At his stricken panicked face, Adam quickly added, “online, first. And if you’re up to it, maybe one day we can go out to an actual store.”

“You’d go with me? Really?”

“Of course I would. I have excellent taste, you know.” Adam tucked one of Elias’ curls behind his ears, it bounced back into its usual disarray. “I’ll buy you the prettiest dresses and skirts. Heels too.”

“I—I’ve never worn heels.” Elias said in a whisper. 

“I have.” Adam said grinning. “They hurt like hell, but they’ll make your ass look incredible. I insist you let me buy you a pair.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Some Afterthoughts:
> 
> \- Adam definitely buys Elias an entire wardrobe of pretty frilly clothes for him to wear  
> \- Elias learns how to walk in heels (and to fuck in them of course)  
> \- Adam spends many afternoons putting pink bows in Elias' curls (and big pink bows around Elias' neck and ankles and wrists and cock, he becomes a big baby bull present)
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr](http://granpappy-winchester.tumblr.com)


End file.
